Dr. Tamader bint Youssef Al Rammah has been appointed deputy minister of labour and social development. Saudi Arabia has replaced some of its top military officers in a shake-up that elevates a younger generation, brings a woman into a senior government job.

In a reshuffle announced late on Monday, the military chief of staff, air defence and land forces heads and senior defence and interior ministry officials were removed. Tamadur bint Youssef Al Ramah became deputy labour minister, a rare high-level job for a woman in the kingdom.

RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi King Salman appointed two new ministers on Saturday to key security and economic posts, removing one of the royal family’s most prominent members as head of the National Guard and boosting the kingdom’s young crown prince.

Manama: Saudi Arabia has clipped the prerogatives of the powerful Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the religious police, and banned it from chasing, arresting or asking for the identity papers of anyone.

Under a new structure and set of regulations endorsed by the cabinet at its weekly meeting, the commission will not move into action and will report suspicious cases to the police or the anti-drugs squads who will be fully in charge of all the measures that include chasing, arresting, detaining and questioning suspects.

Riyadh: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, of Saudi Arabia received here on Thursday Sayyid Badr bin Saud bin Harib Al Busaidi, Minister Responsible for Defence Affairs and his GCC counterparts representatives of the countries taking part in the concluding military exercise 'Ra'ad Al Shamal' at King Khalid Military City.

SAUDI women were waiting for December 2015 to enter for the first time the Municipal Council. Some 20 women are now participating in Municipal Council deliberations at different regions in the Kingdom while the total number of Municipal Council members exceeds 3,150. Though the women seats are few yet their participation has come after a long journey, said activists.

RIYADH: Nearly two million people around the world visited the Saudi municipal elections’ website during the election period, the Saudi Press Agency reported.The elections, whose results were announced recently, made use of the late

JEDDAH: The Shoura Council will vote on Monday (today) on a proposal to identify tasks of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Haia) by issuing specific guidelines for the body’s members.A Shoura me

DAMMAM — Women members of municipal councils will not interact with their male counterparts face-to-face, according to Director General of Municipal Councils Affairs Judai Al-Qahtani.

“We are making a lot of new adjustments with the participation of women in the council. However, we will not compromise the religious boundaries. Female members have equal rights as male members of the council but they will not have mixed meetings,” said Al-Qahtani.

RIYADH: There has been praise from citizens, civil society, and several countries around the globe for the Kingdom hosting elections that allowed women to participate for the first time as voters and candidates.The elections saw voters elect 20 women to municipal councils alongside 2,086 men. Four women were elected in Riyadh, making it the city with the highest number of women representatives. They are Alia bint Makiman bin Ghabn Al-Furaiji, Huda bint Abdulrahman bin Ali Al-Jeraisi and Jawahar bint Othman bin Nasser Al-Saleh.

BAHA/NAJRAN: A number of districts and provinces failed to elect women for municipal council seats in Saturday's elections despite the fact that the number of female voters in all electoral centers in Baha reached 946 voters.The lack of election of women to municipal councils in the area has sparked questions and concerns, especially in light of the enthusiasm of female voters and keenness of officials to ensure female participation in the region.

RIYADH: A low women’s turnout was registered in the electoral process in the Al-Khaleej neighborhood in the third electoral district with the exception of Al-Rawdah Center, which was characterized by medium to low turnout of female voters under the age of 20.Middle-aged and older female voters turned out in greater numbers to vote in the municipal elections. These categories of women voters were much noticed going to cast their ballots for the 67 male and female contenders.

RIYADH: The National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) has declared the third municipal elections free and fair but said there were problems that hampered voters and candidates, including some breaking campaigning rules.

JEDDAH — A number of Saudi women candidates for the municipal elections who failed to make it this time did not regret the experience of running for the elections and said they would again run for the next elections four years from now.

They said the experience was fruitful regardless of success or failure.

“My candidacy was a dream come true. I was not disheartened by my failure,” said Miaad Sami Shaqra, a candidate who failed to win.